Following his success at the European Championships last summer – the first sprinter to win three European gold medals – Lemaitre's father received a letter from the Ku Klux Klan inviting his son on a "courtesy" visit of the white supremacist group in their homeland of Texas.

Perhaps not, but Lemaitre's rise to fame – and subsequent lucrative sponsorship deals – has led some black athletes in France privately to question the fairness of a sprinter benefiting from such commercial success, despite not making even the top 10 fastest men in the world.